South Street Advisors LLC Has $18.19 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

South Street Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 105,491 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,816 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up about 2.8% of South Street Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. South Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $18,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $147.67 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $165.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.26. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $107.72 billion, a PE ratio of 40.68, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 158.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.